Hi everyone I'm Laura Adams and you're listening to the Money Girl Podcast.

Want to buy a home, a car or get a credit card? Well, those are just a few situations

when you need tip-top credit in order to get approved and to pay the lowest most competitive interest rates.

No matter if you're building credit for the first time, or you need to prop up sagging scores for a big purchase that you have in mind,

I'll give you three simple action steps to improve your credit.

Credit plays a huge role in the health of your financial life.

It's a measure of how trustworthy you are when it comes to money.

Your credit scores tell the world whether you're likely to pay your bills and credit accounts on time.

The foundation of your credit is your credit report.

It contains a complete history of your financial behavior, like late payments on credit accounts

and certain legal actions such as liens, judgments and bankruptcies that affect your finances.

Using the data in your credit report,

various credit scoring models assign you a rating

that potential lenders, merchants, and employers can use to evaluate you.

If you have excellent credit, you'll be able to purchase many goods and services for less

than someone with poor credit.

That's because most lenders offer lower interest rates and better terms to borrowers with high

credit scores.

If you have poor credit on the other hand, you'll be shoved to the sidelines and deny credit altogether or be charged crazy high interest rates.

Improving your credit scores is actually very easy when you take a few simple proactive steps.

Action Step Number 1, check your credit report.

Most people don't know what's on their credit report.

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